Generators and alternatives (solar)

DrGonzo

Howdy doo ?

Anyone know anything about Generators, Im looking at getting a really small sound system together for a art work/ installation piece we are doing at this years AfrikaBurn festival..
granted there is no power within a 100km radius of the festival!

So im looking into getting a small gennie to power the system,.. bear in mind im thinking a real small system, like just 2 6 or 8 inch monitors and a laptop to play some ambient music around our "tree"

- Do you guys know where I could rent a generator for a few days.... or perhaps one of you has one personally that we could use, we could reimburse you with cash money, hugs or whatever you desire.

Problem is with generators is sound -Noise pollution at the festival is not ideal -Maybe i could build some kind of ISOLATION box for it? I don't want it to overheat or whatever?

Lastly - What about solar panel power? this would be ideal (from the noise and "Eco" point of view) BUT I imagine great expense.... but how big do you think you will need to power said system (2 small powered speakers and a laptop)

peterleroux

I can't really advise on solar because I haven't worked with in off-grid situations, but I do know that generators make noise, there isn't an easy way around that. It helps if you can be as efficient as possible so you reduce the size of solar panel/windmill/fairy dust engine/generator you need.

If you go with something like a Raspberry Pi instead of the laptop you can cut your consumption from +_50 watts to +_5 watts, and you might do better if you use an ipod instead.

AlanRatcliffe

Hmm gennys are typically very dirty power - I wouldn't want to run anything delicate like a laptop from one. Plus quieting it is going to be a cow - even if you get/make a soundproof enclosure, air intake and exhaust are critical (and exhaust is probably going to be noisy). Then there is heat...

Sounds like you are being ambitious with this - why not approach solar power companies and see if anyone would like to get behind you on it. Promo/ad opportunity for them, power for you.

Bob-Dubery

What Alan said. Somebody might be looking for the publicity. There are companies that offer solutions that, they say, will allow you to run a house off-grid. I don't necessarily believe all of these (one I was offered revolved around ionised water) but somebody might be interested in putting their money where their mouth is.

Bear in mind that usually these systems, unless they are directly heating water, will generate DC which then has to be stored somewhere and then converted to AC (so your computer or power supply can convert it back to DC). So you may end up with a lot of gear to move around and may need somebody to hook it all up.

How does this festival power itself?

The solar tech is available. I have cheap little outside lights that charge during the day from the sun and then burn at night. They're not massively powerful, but it shows the tech is there and is coming down in price (these lights use solar panels to charge a ni-cad battery).

Chabenda

Generators are quite costly to operate too. I sometimes have to use our 6.5kva for weeks on end, despite the fact that we now own Cahora Bassa (a political slogan here), running one air con, two laptops and fluorescent lights. The daily fuel cost is as much as a whole months electricity bill from the normal supplier.

Bob-Dubery

X-rated Bob wrote: What Alan said. Somebody might be looking for the publicity. There are companies that offer solutions that, they say, will allow you to run a house off-grid. I don't necessarily believe all of these (one I was offered revolved around ionised water) but somebody might be interested in putting their money where their mouth is.

Or look for renewable energy advocacy organisations in your area and ask them for advice. There's a bunch in Jo'burg who run a house using compressed peanut shells for insulation, an entire roof of solar panels and so on. They know about this stuff and where it can be gotten.

petercornell

What about a UPS? The batteries in a 3kva UPS should give you a couple of days minimal use and you should be able to hire on as well. Give Meissner a call, they were very helpful when I spoke to them.

If you can run your setup off 12v, a car battery or 2 should also suffice.

Peter

DrGonzo

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Sounds like you are being ambitious with this - why not approach solar power companies and see if anyone would like to get behind you on it. Promo/ad opportunity for them, power for you.

Good plan Alan - I might put up a proposal.... However.... I got to be careful about this as its a 100% non-commercial event so any kind of promotion/ advertising or sale of any good (including food, drink etc) is not allowed...

But im sure, despite me not being able to hand out flyers and outward marketing, they will still get a lot of coverage and to a perfect target market.... its eco friendly artist festival and who are all in need of power for future festivals etc.

ill just have to think about that one carefully to still play within the rules...

X-rated Bob wrote: How does this festival power itself?

The festival powers itself on Love :dance: ?arty: :roflmao:
no really just generators , i guess some solar power as well.

Take a look at www.afrikaburn.co.za to find out more about the festival...

its not really a festival as such, as there is no line-up or scheduled performances... but lots of private and spontaneous gigs and smaller dance floors all over the place... all privately organised by the people. Last year Some guys brought a stretch tent with a generator, a PA, drums and percussion and setup a stage and left it open for whoever wanted to jam.. was really rad, lots of great improvising and such

DrGonzo

petercornell wrote: What about a UPS? The batteries in a 3kva UPS should give you a couple of days minimal use and you should be able to hire on as well. Give Meissner a call, they were very helpful when I spoke to them.

If you can run your setup off 12v, a car battery or 2 should also suffice.

Peter

Interesting idea... I would love to look into this..

I might just need to power a small pair of active monitors and an iPod. SO we really not looking at gigawatts here.

CDee

DrGonzo wrote:
petercornell wrote: What about a UPS? The batteries in a 3kva UPS should give you a couple of days minimal use and you should be able to hire on as well. Give Meissner a call, they were very helpful when I spoke to them.

If you can run your setup off 12v, a car battery or 2 should also suffice.

Peter

Interesting idea... I would love to look into this..

I might just need to power a small pair of active monitors and an iPod. SO we really not looking at gigawatts here.

Deep cycle battery and a power inverter should do the trick.

G-Man

petercornell wrote: What about a UPS? The batteries in a 3kva UPS should give you a couple of days minimal use and you should be able to hire on as well. Give Meissner a call, they were very helpful when I spoke to them.

If you can run your setup off 12v, a car battery or 2 should also suffice.

Peter

That's what I do when I go camping, I have a big 2kva ups and I made a multi plug with a female kettle connector and I power my led light and laptop and speakers. Normally lasts the weekend.

DrGonzo

petercornell wrote: What about a UPS? The batteries in a 3kva UPS should give you a couple of days minimal use and you should be able to hire on as well. Give Meissner a call, they were very helpful when I spoke to them.

If you can run your setup off 12v, a car battery or 2 should also suffice.

Peter

Who and where is Meissner??

CDee wrote:
Deep cycle battery and a power inverter should do the trick.

Can you elaborate a bit please Mr CDeeee?

peterleroux

A Deep cycle (or 'marine') battery is designed to tolerate running almost flat before recharging, unlike a car battery that needs to be kept charged most of the time. They're more expensive (and sometimes heavier) than an ordinary car battery but are still 12V lead acid batteries.

An inverter takes 12V DC and gives you 220V AC power. You might instead be able to go with a step-down transformer or power regulator to give you the 5V, 6V or 9V DC you need to run your ipod without going DC/AC/DC, which would have some losses at each conversion stage.

petercornell

Seems like Meissner are no more.....

They used to make very good UPS's

Peter

DrGonzo

Cool thanks Peter('s) :goodtimes:

So would I look at boating shops and such for a deep cycle battery?
how much more or less are we talking?

CDee

peterleroux wrote: A Deep cycle (or 'marine') battery is designed to tolerate running almost flat before recharging, unlike a car battery that needs to be kept charged most of the time. They're more expensive (and sometimes heavier) than an ordinary car battery but are still 12V lead acid batteries.

An inverter takes 12V DC and gives you 220V AC power. You might instead be able to go with a step-down transformer or power regulator to give you the 5V, 6V or 9V DC you need to run your ipod without going DC/AC/DC, which would have some losses at each conversion stage.

Yip, what he said. ?

Inverters you can find in camping stores and some even stock deep cycle batteries.

V8

Personally I'd find someone with an "expedition vehicle" and invite them along. My mate's has an inverter + bits, can power quite a bit and at idle it's not offensively loud. Also got the option of trickle charging the batteries with a solar setup, so *thankfully* there hasn't been too many push starts (it's a 2ton+ Land Rover)

If you are looking at purchasing batteries - chat to these guys : http://www.battery2000.com/. They're in Paarden Eiland and their prices are prettttttyyy good.

Really like the idea of a Raspberry Pi, that plus a few of them shox speakers, could make a fun project for Afrika Burns.

Me, I just laughed at everyone stuck in the mud last year ?

DrGonzo

V8 wrote:
Really like the idea of a Raspberry Pi, that plus a few of them shox speakers, could make a fun project for Afrika Burns.

Me, I just laughed at everyone stuck in the mud last year ?

yeah the rasberry is a cool idea!

Haha - I think the mud was the previous year.. i was there last year and there was not a drop of even the remotest of saturation in sight. :-\

ANother thing I want to do, if there is time, is obtain/ build a theremin of sorts that I can install in the artwork so that people can make hand gestures and trigger sounds...

Thats a whole other story tho but would need power nonetheless!

V8

DrGonzo wrote: Haha - I think the mud was the previous year.. i was there last year and there was not a drop of even the remotest of saturation in sight. :-\

ANother thing I want to do, if there is time, is obtain/ build a theremin of sorts that I can install in the artwork so that people can make hand gestures and trigger sounds...

Ahh, my bad - these things do get lost in the database sometimes. I had my arm seriously twisted to go last year - perhaps that's why I was confussed.

Yebo, interactive installation's is where it's at imho. I like electronic drumkits for that (headphones w/mix in), but a Jean Michelle Jarre style controller would be great fun - me I like to hit stuff ? - The HPD-10 has a IR controller too, but I find it gimmic-y.

What you really want is one of these : http://www.landyonline.co.za/locals/redbull_defender.htm

DrGonzo

V8 wrote: Yebo, interactive installation's is where it's at imho. I like electronic drumkits for that (headphones w/mix in), but a Jean Michelle Jarre style controller would be great fun - me I like to hit stuff ? - The HPD-10 has a IR controller too, but I find it gimmic-y.

What you really want is one of these : http://www.landyonline.co.za/locals/redbull_defender.htm

Cool Myron, are you gonna go this year??

Sjoe, i was watching some clips from burning man, and some of the sound installations they had there were insane! people really put insane amounts of time money and effort into that festival (and AB of course)

Shot for that link!